If you’re an aspiring YouTuber, you’ve probably already looked into different ways to monetize your channel and make money from it.
The most common of these is by using ads, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, or paid partnership opportunities with companies. But what if you don’t have the time to go through the effort of setting up and managing all those relationships?
Podcasting can be an excellent alternative – here are seven ways to monetize your podcast channel and bring in new revenue streams.
1) Implement an AdSense Account
Google AdSense is a platform that provides web-based advertisers with opportunities to reach people interested in their products.
It lets you earn money by displaying relevant ads on your website and participating in Google’s pay-per-click program, AdWords.
The concept is simple: As long as you have a Google AdSense account, you can display relevant advertisements and generate revenue from clicks or views. For example, if you run a YouTube channel about fishing and selling tackle through an e-commerce store, you could create an ad unit designed for video impressions.
Of course, setting up an AdSense account is no easy task. There are a lot of technical requirements and best practices you’ll need to understand before you can monetize your podcasts using AdSense.
Fortunately, there are plenty of resources available online that will help you get started. The first step is figuring out which ads will work with your channel and audience.
2) Set Up Your Monetization With Patreon
If you’re a podcaster, it can be tough to make money from your podcast. Many podcasts are free, but successful podcasts with advertisers have an issue:
How do you reward superfans and offer exclusives without alienating non-subscribers? Patreon is an emerging platform that seeks to bridge that gap. It’s been around for years, but recently it’s picked up steam thanks in part to its integration with Anchor.
If you already have a podcast or have started one recently, signing up for Patreon is a good way to start monetizing your show—and keep it going at full speed ahead.
Patreon is a platform that allows listeners, viewers, and readers to pledge a monthly amount of money in support of artists they like.
Patreon is often used by musicians and YouTubers, but it’s also quickly becoming popular among podcasters.
If you have 100 or 1,000 listeners (or if you don’t yet have any subscribers), you can use Patreon as an alternative source of income for your podcast.
3) Sell Your Products
When you’re starting and looking for ways to monetize your podcast, start with yourself. Consider offering a product or service directly through your show, like speaking engagements or a personal training course.
You can also offer related products and services, like e-books or reports on your favorite topic.
A book about fitness or healthy eating may not sell very well if it’s not written by someone who knows what they’re talking about—so be authentic when it comes to how you’re making money from your podcast.
You can also use your expertise and experience to make money by teaching others how to start their podcasts. Share tips on everything from recording techniques and equipment recommendations to scriptwriting and editing, monetization methods, and much more!
You may be surprised at how willing your listeners are to pay for information they can’t get elsewhere.
4) Accept Donations and Support From Others
The easiest way to make money from your podcast is to accept donations and support from others. There are several services available that will allow you to set up a Donate button on your website, including Patreon, PayPal, and many more.
You can also get creative with your monetization strategy and find other ways for people to give you money. Even if it’s not substantial revenue generated by donations, having them only improves your relationship with listeners and gives you exposure and credibility among others in your industry.
Another way podcasters make money is through sponsorship of one kind or another. Finding sponsors can be tricky, but they don’t have to pay a lot for it to be worthwhile.
For example, sponsors might offer the product in exchange for a mention on your show—or even just a single episode about their products and services—as well as social media promotion.
5) Start Affiliate Marketing
If you’re passionate about a topic, affiliate marketing is an easy way to monetize your podcast. In affiliate marketing, you promote products or services from another company as an affiliate.
As part of your promotion, you set up links from their site that redirects customers back to your business.
These links could be in a variety of forms, such as text or banner ads, and will allow anyone who clicks on them to purchase whatever it is that you are selling through your business.
Another form of affiliate marketing comes in creating digital information products like e-books or online courses and having people buy those materials for them to get whatever it is they need at your place of business.
Making money through affiliate marketing can be as easy as signing up with an affiliate program and using links on your podcast channel.
With that said, affiliate marketing takes more time and effort than monetizing a basic podcast channel, so you’ll need to have a level of dedication to your business before pursuing it.
There are also additional ways of making money through podcasts like selling t-shirts or other merchandise along with promoting various products or services within each episode.
6) Engage in Sponsored Posts
A sponsorship post is a sponsored post on your podcast’s show notes page or in its description. Listeners can usually tell when a post has been sponsored because you will clearly state that it’s sponsored content. Some platforms have specific requirements for sponsor disclosure, so make sure you read up on them before diving into any potential partnerships.
Sponsorship posts are one of many ways to monetize your podcast—they’re most often used by platforms with large audiences and strong advertising potential (such as BuzzFeed, who might ask companies like Marriott and Expedia to sponsor posts).
If you decide not to accept sponsorships, but still want your audience members to see value in their subscriptions, consider asking them for paid memberships instead.
7) Promote Products
Promoting your podcast through affiliate links is a great way to make money as a podcaster. It is especially useful if you want to create income while you sleep.
Affiliate marketing doesn’t mean you sell other people’s products and keep 100% of the profits. The easiest and most common approach is what is called an affiliate link, which places links in your episodes that lead listeners directly to products for sale on other sites.
You don’t even have to create or deliver these products yourself; all you do is recommend them in your podcast and include an affiliate link for them in your show notes.